Carter: The Sinner Saints #1 (15 page)

She tilted her chin up and looked at Carter. His eyes were closed, and she was halfway pleased to see that he was still struggling to catch his breath as well.

“That was…” Ally tried, but words failed her.

“Amazing,” he finished for her. He tightened his grip on her, spooning her body against his.

“What’s this?” she teased him. “And here I thought you’d be dying to get rid of me, and hoping I’d make one of my quick escapes.”

“Don’t you dare.” His fingers intertwined with hers and he placed her hand in the center of his chest. “Stay. Stay right here with me.”

Chapter Twelve

Carter woke up in an empty bed.

He knew even before he opened his eyes that he was alone. The heat that he’d cradled against his body all night was gone. The mattress felt light. He knew that if he stretched out his arms all he would catch was air.

Still, he opened his eyes to check. Sure enough, the sheet was folded back where Ally had been. Her pillow still showed a deep impression.

Carter shot straight up in bed. For a moment, adrenaline flooded through him.

Wherever she’d gone, she couldn’t have made it far.

He threw back the covers and jumped out onto the cold floor.

And caught the scent of fresh brewed coffee wafting up from the ground floor.

Slowly, he inched over to the loft railing and peered over.

Ally was down at the computer table, wearing his button up shirt from the night before. She sat on the chair in front of the computer monitor, her hair pulled back into a makeshift knot as she stared at the screen, her knees bent and pulled up in front of her. From this height and angle, he couldn’t see exactly what was on the screen in front of her, but it didn’t take a genius to guess. She was checking out the drive Charlie had given them.

He wondered for how long?

He silently stepped back from the railing and pulled on his pants. If he were being honest, he was amazed that she’d managed to sleep at all. He knew how badly she wanted…
needed
to see what was on the drive.

Carter ran his fingers through his hair as he came down the stairs.

“There’s coffee,” Ally said, lifting an arm and pointing toward the kitchen without turning his way.

“Thanks for making it,” he said. He found a mug and poured himself a cup. “How long have you been up?”

“Since a little before dawn,” she said. “I was wondering how long you were going to sleep in.”

Carter looked over at the clock hanging above the stove. It read 7:04. So, that was her idea of sleeping in?

He moved up behind her and cupped her shoulder with his free hand, giving her a little squeeze. He felt some of the tension in her muscles give way.

“How’s it going?” he asked.

“Not great,” Ally said, shaking her head. “It’s just like Charlie said. There’s a lot here. Hundreds of pages—quarterly forecasted earnings for Applied Dynamics, minutes from Fuller’s Defense Appropriation meetings, classified documents from the DOD, confidential memos from Army Intelligence. It’s maddening. It’s like we’re going at this backwards, looking at all the evidence and trying to figure out the crime.”

“Putting a puzzle together not knowing what the picture is supposed to look like.”

“Exactly.”

“And how’s it coming together so far?”

She drew in a deep breath and slowly let it out. “Well, I’ve talked myself out of kicking a hole in the computer screen at least three times in the past hour, so I figure that’s progress.”

“At this point, we’ll take what victories we can.” Carter planted a kiss on the top of her head. “Keep at it. I know what you’re looking for is there.”

“As long as one of us stays optimistic,” she said, frustration making her voice growly.

“We’ll call Mason later and see how he’s doing on the puzzle. Sometimes it helps to talk it out with someone else.”

A knock sounded against the front door. Ally jumped from her chair. “And sometimes taking a break can be helpful.”

She went to the door and peeked outside before opening it.

Mrs. Garcia was standing on the front step with a heavy tray, a paper grocery bag and a concerned look. Carter rushed forward to take the tray out of her hands.

“I was making breakfast for the boys before school and I thought I would bring you some.”

“Thank you,” Ally said, holding the door for Sofia. The woman stepped inside but her frown didn’t dissipate.

“There are clothes in the bag too. You and I are basically the same size, Ally,” she said, but then glanced over at Carter. “But you’re quite a bit bigger than Ramon. I did my best, but the fit might be a little tight.”

“Thank you. I’m sure they’ll be fine,” he said. He kept his voice light. It was obvious that something was bothering her, but Carter doubted that Mrs. Garcia was going to open up to a stranger.

Ally must have sensed it too. She put her hand on Mrs. Garcia’s shoulder. “Is everything okay, Sofia?”

The woman looked up at Ally and slowly shook her head. “I don’t know how to tell you,” she said.

Carter instantly tensed. Good news never came from such an apologetic tone.

Ally’s brows pulled together. “Tell us what?”

Mrs. Garcia gripped her hands in front of her, but Carter caught the tremble that shook her fingers. “It was on the news when I turned on the television.”

“What was?” Carter could tell Ally was struggling to keep her voice calm, but the strain leaked through.

Fortunately, Mrs. Garcia didn’t seem to notice. She didn’t seem to notice much of anything that they were saying.

“But then I went out on the porch and it was in the paper as well,” Mrs. Garcia said. She lifted the folded paper off the breakfast tray and handed it to Ally.

Carter moved to Ally’s side as she snapped it open.

Local journalist kidnapped from downtown hotel by shooting suspect
.

Carter stared at the headline. There was a picture underneath it, black-and-white and grainy, but he could clearly make out his and Ally’s faces through the front window of the SUV. His hand was at the back of her neck just before he pushed her down.

The paper must have taken it from one of the security cameras inside the parking garage. More likely, Lucas Addams had given it to them.

Ally turned her face up to him. “What does this mean?” she asked, obviously confused.

“It means that Fuller has us exactly where he wants us.” Carter raked his hand through his hair. He cursed under his breath. He’d played directly into the man’s hands. “He hasn’t been able to get to you, but he’s found a way to silence us.”

“I don’t understand,” Mrs. Garcia said.

Carter drew in a deep breath. “Lucas Addams told the police I abducted Ally. The only way for her to clear my name is to go to the police, but the second Ally does that, she’s a dead woman. If I turn myself in, she’ll be unprotected. If we contact anyone to try to get the truth out there, Fuller’s men will be on us in a heartbeat.”

Ally turned to Mrs. Garcia. “I’m so sorry we brought this to you. I never thought it would come to this. If you want us to leave, I totally understand.”

Mrs. Garcia shook her head. “No. Don’t go. It sounds like if you leave you’ll have a target on your back. How could I live with myself if something happened to you? After all that you did for my family, I’m happy to do this for you.”

Ally nodded and Carter caught the bright reflection of tears welling up in her eyes. “Thank you.”

“No one knows you’re here, right?” Mrs. Garcia asked. Carter nodded. “Well, I won’t tell if you won’t.”

“Good plan.”

Mrs. Garcia fixed Carter with a stare, looking directly into his eyes. “But if something does happen, I want your word that you’ll protect this family,” she said. “I know just by looking at you that you’re capable.”

Carter met her stare and gave her his most solemn nod. “With my dying breath.”

***

It was too bad that the Garcia’s were such coffee lovers. Ally could have really gone for a nice mint tea. Or a cup of chamomile, but she would have settled for anything soothing to calm her nerves.

But as it turned out, the cupboards were stocked with nothing but coffee, and right now Ally had enough caffeine flowing through her veins to keep a Roman Legion up for a week.

At least it was keeping her going. She’d been able to keep her eyes glued to the computer screen in front of her for the past two hours without blinking.

Not that it meant that she was any closer to understanding the strange scavenger hunt that Harvey Price had given her, but at least she’d been able to keep her mind occupied and not descend into a full blown panic attack because her life was in shambles.

As if it wasn’t enough that Fuller’s goon squad was after them, now they had every police department in the Central Valley hunting for them as well. And the only way out was to figure out this convoluted puzzle that Harvey Price had left behind.

Ally blinked a few times as the words in front of her started to dance on the screen.

Great. Now even coffee was failing her.

She bowed her head for a moment and rubbed at her eyes.

She perked up again when Carter’s phone rang. She swiveled around in her seat as he picked it up.

“Mason,” he said. “Talk to me.”

Ally jumped up and ran to where Carter was sitting on the couch. Finally. If he was calling maybe he had some good news.

Carter pressed the speaker button on the phone and placed it on the couch cushions between them.

“I would have called you earlier but the office has been crawling with cops. They’ve been everywhere this morning. Sounds like they’re going to shut us down.”

Carter’s jaw tightened. He closed his eyes as thick cords stood out on his neck. “How long do you have?”

“Probably just a couple of hours,” Mason said. “I had to sneak out just to call you.”

“It’s appreciated,” Carter said. “Use the time wisely. Back up everything vital. Erase anything sensitive. We have to assume that Fuller has men in there with the cops.”

“How are you doing? Did you get Miss Weaver somewhere safe?”

“We’re okay, Mason,” Ally said.

There was a brief pause, probably as Mason realized that he was on speakerphone. She figured that probably didn’t happen a lot.

“Glad to hear it, Ally,” Mason said from the other end. He sounded genuinely pleased.

Carter cleared his throat. “Did you get a chance to look at the files Charlie sent you?” he asked.

“I did,” Mason said.

“And did you see anything?” Ally asked. Even she could hear the desperation straining her voice.

“Not much,” he admitted. Ally felt the hopeful air rush out of her. “I’ll look again tonight once I’ve put out the fires here.”

“Of course,” Ally said, trying to keep the disappointment out of her voice.

“There was one thing that seemed odd right off the bat,” Mason said.

Ally straightened up. “What’s that?”

“Take a look at the Allied Dynamics earning projections. There’s a line in there for nearly half a billion in body armor and ballistic defense systems, but the bill that Fuller introduced to fund it was shot down by the Appropriations Committee.”

“Maybe it was just wishful thinking on the accountant’s part,” Carter said.

“No,” Ally said, slowly shaking her head. Her eyes brightened as the first piece of the puzzle snapped into place. “The projected earnings report was drawn up a full two months
after
the bill was voted down.”

“That it was,” Mason said.

“Mason, you’re a genius,” Ally shouted.

“That’s what they tell me.”

“No, they don’t,” Carter said. He glanced over at her. “No one tells him that.”

Mason laughed on the other end. “Charlie did tell me you were trying your hand at jokes.”

“I’m not joking,” Carter said.

“I have to go before they start missing me,” Mason said. “I’ll call you tonight. Stay safe.”

“Will do,” Carter said and hit the end button. He turned to Ally and raised his eyebrows. “A genius? Really? I save your life two times and
Mason’s
a genius?”

“What?” Ally asked, a slow smile spreading across her face. “You’re not jealous are you?”

“Jealous?” he asked, his voice shifting a little too high. “Of Mason? Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Oh, I’m not the one being ridiculous,” Ally said, laughing. “I’m pretty sure it wasn’t him I was kissing last night.”

A wide smile spread across Carter’s face. “Well, when you put it like that.”

He leaned forward, and caressed her cheek with his open palm. His lips barely brushed against hers.

“And I seem to remember you doing a hell of a lot more than just kissing,” he whispered in her ear.

Ally’s blood heated at the reminder. She kissed him back, long and slow. Sure, the world might be turning in crazy circles, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t take a little break from the madness.

Carter gave her a long look before pulling back. He adjusted the front of his pants before standing up.

“I should go take a shower,” he said.

“And I should get back to staring at a computer screen.”

***